‘Putani police’ to help maintain law and order

Programme seeks to train high school and pre-university students to become the “eyes and ears” of police

The city police will soon have spirited high school students or “Putani police” (junior police) assisting them in maintaining law and order.

Designed on the lines of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), the Student Police Cadet (SPC) programme seeks to train high school and pre-university students to become the “eyes and ears” of the police.

With the State government earmarking Rs 1.8 crore for the SPC programme, the city police have selected a team of officials to train the students.

The city police are listing government and aided-schools across the city to launch the programme from the coming academic year. A dedicated team of police officials, along with two teachers from each school selected by the jurisdictional police, would train students in civic sense and on sharing information about suspicious activities.

A training module has been developed to equip the students with skills on how to respond to law and order situations and traffic violations. They will also be trained to play a role in emergency situations such as natural and man-made disasters, besides communal tension. The students will be trained to keep a tab on drug abuse, eve-teasing, ragging and other offences, in residential areas, schools and colleges.

The motto of the SPC cadets would be “We Learn to Serve”. The SPC are expected to report to the jurisdictional police or the control room, said Additional Commissioner of Police (Administration) P. Harishekaran, who is a nodal officer for the project.

This initiative will not only inculcate a sense of responsibility and make them law abiding citizens but also help them develop leadership skills and a sense of commitment towards society, he said.

Mr. Harishekharan who is part of the programme, said the initiative would help the police gather more information and improve police-public relationship.

Each government school and college will be attached to the jurisdictional police.

Readers can send their feedback by mailing to bangaloredesk@thehindu.co.in or contact us through our twitter account (https:/twitter.com/BloreConnect) or Facebook account (www.facebook.com/BloreConnect).